Abstract 18613: Improved Adolescent Pre-Athletic Screening Sensitivity and Specificity with Seattle Criteria-interpreted ECGs

Introduction: Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a rare but devastating cause of death in children and young adults. While electrocardiogram (ECG) can detect many causes of SCA, ECG are not routinely included in pre-athletic screening (PAS) protocols in the United States due, in part, to a high rate of false positive (FP) interpretations in adolescents. Recently, an expert consensus panel developed refined ECG criteria (Seattle Criteria) to improve the specificity for ECG identification of cardiac conditions associated with SCA. Methods: We compared standard ECG criteria with Seattle Criteria in the interpretation of ECGs obtained as part of a youth community SCA screening program. Students completed an AHA-endorsed PAS that included a cardiac specific history and physical exam. A 12 lead ECG was obtained and interpreted by a board certified pediatric cardiologist (PDC). Students found to have a positive PAS screen or abnormal standard ECG completed additional work up with a PDC. All ECGs referred for additio...